Matthew Wrather, Editor-in-Chief of Overthinking It, is an actor living in LA. He has been a writer, tower bell-ringer, birthday party clown, poet, janitor, and call center manager. He also has a Twitter and a Tumblr.

4 Comments on “TV Recap: Mad Men Season 6 Episode 5”

My first reaction to Don and Bobby watching Planet of the Apes felt a bit on the nose. I wondered why would the writers end an episode about MLK with a sci-fi movie that was so socially relevant at the time. After checking a few sites online, I learned that Planet of the Apes was released a day before the assassination, on April 3rd.

Bobby’s infatuation with the movie came from the twist ending, but do you think Don and the older audience responded to the commentary on civil rights? One of the scenes we hear in the theater contains dialogue from the apes discussing how awful man is.

Pete’s passionate exchange in the office with Harry reminded me of Charlton Heston’s performance. Especially, when he mentioned “that man had a wife and children,” or something to that effect.

I also wonder if anyone else caught the American Airlines ad, voiced by Jon Hamm, during one of the last commercial breaks. I’ve tried to find it online, but the most popular one doesn’t have much dialogue. This was a minute long spot, with Jon Hamm narrating most of it.

What do you think about AMC or American Airlines having “Don Draper,” a fictional ad man, sell us something very real? I’ve never seen this ad on anything other program, and even though the character’s name is never used, I’m sure the spot was created with the intent of thinking that Draper would pitch to the viewer. Can you think of any other TV show that promoted something in a meta way like this?

P.S. I’m happy to report that Fairly Oddparents is on Netflix instant.

They’ve never been afraid to do boundary-pushing things with commercials—I mean the boundary between editorial and advertising. A few years ago there were featured ads shot in the style of the show: the premise was that a couple Draper-esque 1960s ad guys were coming up with ways to pitch products. Production design, writing, acting, the look of the shots—all were very close to the actual show.

Regarding the Noah reference in the title, I was put to mind of how that Ark story ends, and how it was a fitting parallel for Don. After the waters recede and Noah gets off the ark, the first thing he does is brew up some alcohol and get wasted. Because he did, after all, just watch the world end and untold millions die. Not the best omen for Don in 1968.

Henry sounds like he’ll be a perfect fit for Nixon’s “Law & Order” campaign. But given that Henry has been painted as a Nelson Rockefeller man through-and-through, I’m wondering if this will end up burning too many bridges with his longtime allies.

Roger’s comment about how he thought MLK would fix everything because he made great speeches… did anyone else feel a smidgen of Obama commentary there? Also, Roger’s stoned insurance client: somebody he had met through the LSD scene?

Shana: I wondered the same thing about the real estate agent covertly torpedoing Peggy’s bid on moral ground.